How to Set Podcasts to Auto Delete From Your iPod

I’m writing this in the event there are avid iPod/iTunes podcast users that, like me, didn’t know they can set iTunes to auto-delete podcasts after they have finished with them.

I listen to/watch anywhere from 2 to 10 podcasts every day. For years it has been a pet peeve of mine that I had to use iTunes to manually delete podcasts that I have listend to/watched in order to delete them from the iPod. I couldn’t understand why Apple didn’t provide an option on the iPod to delete podcasts I was finished with.

Turns out that unbeknownst to me, auto-podcast-delete functionality has been there for quite some time - just not how I expected. iTunes has had a function to do exactly what I wanted it to do - auto delete podcasts when finished - since version 4.9.

Here’s How

On the “podcasts” tab in the the iTunes Edit/Preferences screen select the Keep: “All unplayed Episodes” (circled in red below).

That’s pretty much it.

Now, when you have “finished” listening to/watching podcasts, the next time you sync, the play count for that podcast will increment to 1 and the podcast will be deleted from your iPod.

Two Minor Gotchas

1. Need to Force a “Finish”:

You’ll notice I put “finished” in quotes above. The reason is because, your being “finished” with it may not be exactly what iTunes needs for this to work. Read on.

In order to make sure that partially listened-to podcasts aren’t deleted before their time, the iPod will only delete the podcast from your iPod when it has been fully listened to/watched. So, if you are 3/4 the way through a podcast (or stop even a few seconds from the end) iTunes considers that podcast not fully listened to. So it is left in your iPod list for you to continue listening/watching where you left off.

The problem: I usually stop listening to podcasts a couple minutes before the end. I don’t, for example, usually listen to closing outro music or to the podcaster’s goodbyes. So, when I stop and move on to the next podcast iTunes doesn’t consider this to be a fully listened to podcast, does not increment the play count to ‘1′ and therefore doesn’t automatically delete it.

Solution: When you are done with a podcast, before moving on to the next podcast, use the iPod’s fast forward function, to zoom to the end of the finished podcast, thereby forcing the play count to increment to 1. This will result in an auto deletion during your next iPod sync.

2. Auto Delete in iTunes Occurs Only After Next Refresh

While the podcast will be deleted from the iPod on the next sync, it will not be removed from the iTunes podcast list until after the next iTunes podcast refresh.

Solution: If you really care, press the “refresh” button in iTunes after syncing. This will force the refresh which will then delete the fully listened-to podcasts. Otherwise, the solution is patience. Assuming your iTunes is set to refresh the podcast list at least once a day, it shouldn’t take more than a day for fully listened–to podcasts to disappear from the iTunes podcast list.

Bottom Line: If you follow the advice above, you’ll never have to manually delete a podcast again.

A Note About Podcasts on AppleTV

I inadvertently discovered the iPod/iTunes auto-delete functionality when I was looking into whether there is an auto-delete function for video podcasts watched on the AppleTV. Having to manually delete them with my current TiVo video podcast solution was starting to annoy me.

Based on my reading, I’m presuming the same rules apply to podcasts watched on Apple TV. If you want synced podcast to delete from your AppleTV, fast forward to the end when finished. I won’t be 100% certain of this until I’ve tried it myself though. If anyone reading this can confirm, I’d appreciate it.

• Video Podcasts From TiVo Desktop 2.6.1 Just Work - Still Room For Improvement (May 18, 2008)
• iTunes Movie Rentals Come to Canada (June 4, 2008)

Tags: appletv, auto delete, ipod, itunes, podcasts, video podcasts

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